Binghamton Series History• Duke opens the 2014 season with a three-game series against Binghamton Feb. 15-16 at Jack Coombs Field.• Saturday’s contest marks the first meeting in program history between the two schools.

vs. America East Conference• The Blue Devils are 8-5 all-time against teams currently in the America East Conference: Albany (3-0), Binghamton (0-0), Hartford (4-3), Maine (0-0), UMBC (1-2), UMass Lowell (0-0) and Stony Brook (0-0). • Saturday’s game marks Duke’s first against an America East oppnent since the Blue Devils swept a two-game series from Hartford (10-6 & 11-4) March 18 and 19, 2008.

Season Openers• Duke owns an 81-36-2 all-time record in season-opening contests. • Over the past 10 seasons, the Blue Devils have posted a 6-4 mark in season-opening games.• Last year, Duke opened with a 4-3 victory at No. 13 Florida, defeating right-hander Jonathan Crawford, the 20th overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft.

Start It Up• Junior second baseman Andy Perez enjoyed a breakout season last year, culminating in second team All-ACC honors.• He led Duke with a .316 average, 67 hits, five triples and 18 stolen bases• Perez was the only ACC second baseman to rank in the top 15 in the conference in either hits or total bases (97).• Duke’s first second baseman to earn All-ACC honors since Quinton McCracken in 1992, he was especially effective in ACC games, hitting .351 with six doubles, five triples and three home runs. • Batting primarily from the leadoff spot, Perez had at least one hit in 23-of-30 league contests, including multiple hits in 16 ACC games.

Iron Man• Senior Jordan Betts has been a stalwart at third base for the Blue Devils, starting all 164 games in his Duke career.• Betts picked up second team All-ACC honors in 2013 after leading the Blue Devils with 48 RBI and 18 doubles. • At the end of the regular season, his 48 RBI ­— the most by a Blue Devil since Nate Freiman drove in 62 in 2009 — ranked tied for 12th in the ACC. • The Wilmington, N.C., native registered at least one RBI in 30 games, including a streak of nine straight contests from March 23 to April 5, and hit .333 with runners in scoring position. • Batting mainly from the cleanup spot, Betts also tagged a career-high seven home runs on the way to 102 total bases, which tied for the most on the Duke roster.

Marconcini Returns• After missing the 2012 season due to injury, redshirt junior Chris Marconcini returned to the Duke lineup in 2013, starting 54 games. • Marconcini belted a team-best eight home runs, surpassing his total from the 2011 campaign. • He also led the team in slugging percentage (.537) and total bases (102) in addition to stealing eight bases. • The Brentwood, Tenn., native was one of just three players in the ACC with eight or more home runs and eight or more stolen bases, joining North Carolina’s Brian Holberton and Virginia Tech’s Mark Zagunis. • Marconcini also provided solid defense at first base, posting a .994 fielding percentage over the course of the season.

Second-Half Surge• After a slow start, senior outfielder Mark Lumpa emerged as one of Duke’s most consistent hitters over the second-half of the season. • Through the first 21 games, Lumpa posted a .180 average and drew eight walks, good for a .305 on-base percentage. • The Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia, native turned it around during the second half, leading the team in batting average (.390), on-base percentage (.515), hits (32) and walks (18) over Duke’s final 25 games. • For the season, Lumpa led the Blue Devils in on-base percentage (.438) and ranked tied for second in batting average (.311).

Closing Time• Junior right-hander Andrew Istler served as Duke’s closer last year and finished the season with eight saves. • Istler’s eight saves were the most by a Blue Devil pitcher since Alex Hassan also recorded eight saves in 2009. • He is one of just six Blue Devil pitchers to record eight or more saves in a single season since the stat was first recorded in 1969. • In addition, Istler’s 11 career saves rank tied for fourth in program history, and he is two saves shy of tying the Duke career record of 13 held by Hassan, Vaughn Schill and Mark Sikorski.

Ace of the Staff• Sophomore Trent Swart was Duke’s most dependable pitcher, leading the Blue Devils in ERA (2.75), innings pitched (85.0) and strikeouts (71) while starting the series opener in 12-of-13 weekend series. • Swart combined on three shutouts, starting all three, and allowed more than three runs just three times on the year.• The Carlsbad, Calif., native went at least five innings in 12 of his 13 starts and permitted just 12 extra base hits, all doubles.

Déjà Vu• Senior right-hander Robert Huber threw back-to-back shutouts in 2013 and was one of just three ACC pitchers to toss two shutouts during the 2013 campaign, joining ACC Pitcher of the Year Kent Emmanuel of North Carolina and first team All-ACC selection Bryan Radziewski of Miami. • Huber tossed Duke’s first complete game shutout since 2004, throwing nine scoreless frames in the Blue Devils’ 6-0 win over Boston College March 30. • He then followed that performance with a series-clinching 3-0 win over then-No. 15 Georgia Tech the following Sunday. Against the Yellow Jackets, he scattered five hits and struck out seven batters while walking just one. • Huber picked up ACC Pitcher of the Week honors after his performance against Georgia Tech. • For the season, he appeared in 16 games, starting 13 with a 4.85 ERA.

Welcome to Duke• Duke added 10 newcomers to the program for the 2014 season.• The 2014 Blue Devil roster features seven freshmen: Karl Blum, Bailey Clark, J.R. Holloway, Kevin Lewallyn, Cristian Perez and James Ziemba.• Duke also added graduate students Ryan Deitrich and Chris Kono, who played previously at Penn and Holy Cross, respectively. • Redshirt sophomore Cameron Neal also transferred to Duke after a season at Howard College.